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Blogs

Here is a new series of blogs called, Katha at Kalachandji's, talks about Krishna at our temple. In this series I will try to summarize some of the points of the lectures that happen here at the temple.
Sunday feast after Ratha Yatra, Sunday April 26th, 2009,
It is a very beautiful day and we are blessed to have the association of His Holiness Giriraja Swami. Here are some the points of his lecture.
Snana Yatra is a very special day after which there is no darshan of the deities of Lord...

I am sure there are many more stories, but here are the most obvious ones I thought of as a meditation on urgency when chanting (one perspective is to imagine as best we can how we would feel in a similar situation as the devotees in the scriptural pastimes....naturally we won't feel exactly the same, but some idea.) In the picture above the gopis remember Krishna by embracing a tamala tree in their great danger.
Another instance is the one I gave in my last blog of endeavoring to adopt a...

When we chant the Hare Krishna mantra in either japa or kirtana there are certain moods that are favorable for getting the most from chanting. The most basic thing is to really hear the holy names, and gradually developing the proper conceptual orientation and feeling of urgency and finally love. Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur has instructed us that our chanting should not be lip deep, but heart deep. This means that it is not just moving our lips, but engaging our heart that is the...

Relationships change in time
with others & our own body/mind;
even as Krishna's energy sustains all
being the background and rest
in conditioned life our most
fundamental relationship is our body/mind.
We have been sentenced
for a number of years
in the prison house of matter
with physical, mental garments
a stock of karma--good & bad
making us feel happy or sad.
While living in the world
becoming convinced of
material futility while
we pursue spiritual life
adjustments must be made...

Considering my childhood history (which I know was arranged from my previous life's unfinished spirituality), becoming a devotee was the natural course of my life. In a sense, there was no other appealing option, so I embraced the life of a devotee as my highest prospect, which included chanting the holy name. In those days we used to do loud street sankirtana (group chanting) for 8-10 hours or more a day and this practice transported me to another world of bliss and intensity--the likes of...